


April Showers

by metalshootingstar



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22892344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metalshootingstar/pseuds/metalshootingstar
Summary: An ex of David's comes to town, however this particular ex is different from the ones that have come before.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Kudos: 84





	April Showers

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a conversation held by my Rosebuddies weeks ago, about David not always being the innocent one in the relationship. We can all agree that David's dating life was shit, but there has to be at least one relationship where David was the shitty one in the relationship. This one just happens to be it, however he did end up doing something right in the end.

"Look, but don't touch Erica." Says a woman, as she comes in with her daughter. The little girl looks no older than six, with long black hair tied into twin ponytails. She's wearing a Frozen shirt, and jeans with a dainty sort of skirt over, and she rushed over to the back. The woman looks up, her hair has a light red tint to it as she puts up her sunglasses. She's petite and tiny, and immediately smiles at Patrick. "Hi sorry, is it ok if we can use your bathroom for a minute?"

"Oh yeah go ahead." Says Patrick with a smile.

"Thank you," She says with a smile, before turning to her daughter who's still standing there. The woman takes her to the back of the store, before looking back at Patrick as if asking where it was.

"Oh sorry it's to the left, behind the curtain." He explained, and she smiled in thanks before walking in with her daughter. David steps out from the back, looking a little concerned and looked around almost like he'd seen a ghost. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Said David, when the woman stepped out.

"-Ok, tell me when you're done, we have to be back on the road soon." Said the woman, closing the curtain. David freezes at the sight of her, and the woman looks up at him. Their eyes meet, and immediately everything is tense. Patrick looks from his fiance to the woman wondering what was going on. "Hi David."

"Hi April." Said David softly, as she made her way over to them looking back at the bathroom just to be sure. "How are you?"

"Great, good, um...what are you doing here?" She asked.

"I own this store, with my fiance." Said David, and Patrick gave the woman a little wave, and she smiled at him. "Patrick, this is my ex-girlfriend April. April, this is my fiance Patrick."

Patrick looks at her, almost in another light. Oh he's seen quite a many of David's other exes, in magazines, on tv, the internet, others who waltz into town for whatever reason. Most of them dressed in designer clothing, tanned and sunkissed, looking like they stepped out of a magazine. The woman before him, would not look out of place in Schitt's Creek, she's wearing a simple sundress with navy polka dots and a red belt, with sandals, looking like a mom on vacation than anyone David would have dated. She's studying him too, with dark eyes that seem to be looking right through him.

"What are you doing here?" Asked David.

"I was just um, driving by. My husband and I are heading down to Orlando, family vacation/road trip. Um, he went to the cafe to get some food, and make a quick rest stop." She explained, pointing to the car outside across the street.

"Oh you're married?" Asked David curiously.

"Seven years, that's our eldest, Erica she's six, um and my husband took Evan in with him to get food at the cafe. Is the food good by any chance?" She asked casually, and David chuckled.

"Well, it's not the worst, but it is trust me." Said David lightly, and Patrick smiled softly. Though he's ready to jump to David's defense, just incase, because when an ex does come to visit its usually never good.

"I'm glad you're finally settling down though." She says, but it's not mocking like so many exes before her.

"Well, I finally found the right person to settle down with." Said David, though Patrick catches a wince from his fiance.

"Yeah, um that's good." She says with a nod, before clearing her throat and looking back. "Erica, are you almost done?!"

"Almost!" Calls her daughter, and April turns back to the two of them.

"April I...I'm sorry." Said David, and Patrick looks at his fiance, squaring all of this away to talk to later. Immediately however, he stands there, arms folded and looking at the faces of his fiance and this woman. Not sure what's going on here, but clearly this ex is different than so many others, because he has never seen David so full of genuine remorse. April shakes her head and gives a little sigh.

"We were both young, I'm just glad you're finally happy." She said sincerely, casting a small genuine smile to Patrick before looking back up at David.

"Even after all the stuff I put you through?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Even after that, you were the biggest asshole there ever was." She said but before Patrick can say anything she continues. "But I always knew, that there was good in you somewhere. What happened between us, I was never angry with you."

"You have every right to be." Said David softly, as Patrick took his hand and gave it a small squeeze. "But you're right...I am...good, now now I am. Patrick helped bring out the best in me."

"Well, I'm very happy for you." She said with a soft smile.

"Are you ok?" Asked David softly.

"I am, actually." Said April, when the toilet flushed and Erica came running over and hugged her mom tightly. "Um, we have to but um it was nice seeing you. Congrats. Come on hon, dad's probably back by now."

The little girl nods, looking up at David and Patrick, holding onto her mother as they left the store. David sighed, and looked up as Patrick gently placed a hand on his shoulder giving it an affirmative squeeze.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Asked Patrick, David shook his head and went to the back. Patrick sighed as he saw April and her daughter get into the car and drive away. He wishes he knew what happened, what went on between David and this woman?

David meanwhile was in the back, pacing back and forth...trying to decide how to tell Patrick about this. He had many regrets, too many one of these regrets was April Zhang. Seeing her again, it brought back so many memories...not all of them bad, but plenty that weren't good either. He remembers that day seventeen years ago when they'd met, he was twenty and she was twenty-one. He had met her behind the scenes, at one of his mother's productions, she was a makeup artist and he'd been there complaining to his mother about...something. She had been the only one laughing at his verbal quips, to his mother's annoyance. But he still remembers, standing there in the dressing room, no one laughs when he quips except this small girl. Who immediately stops when his mother casts a gaze to him.

"Makeup girl, stop encouraging my son." His mother says, and the girl holds in her laughter covering her mouth from then on. He winked at her, and she smiled at him with those big vibrant brown eyes.

"What's your name?" He'd asked her afterwards.

"Mmm, it's the name of a month so you have to guess." She'd said, with a cute little teasing smile, he pauses and gives a chuckle.

"June?"

"Guess again."

"January?"

"Ok now you're just naming months."

"May?"

"Getting warmer, think...a month before."

"April?"

She'd giggled, and nodded.

"Yeah it's April, April Zhang" She replied, making him smile.

"David, David Rose" He'd said, and she smiled at him. He can't forget that smile, the way those eyes sparkled with love. He met her again when he was twenty-nine and she was thirty, on the set of Cyberstalker. She'd been the makeup person, and they talked...went out for drinks...dated...and then it all went horribly wrong. He sighed, as he played that last night over in his mind, the night she left. He looked up, as Patrick walked in and sat beside him.

"David, listen."

"No you listen." Said David, much to Patrick's surprise. "Sorry, came out way harder than it needed it to. Um...do you remember when I said, that I had never kissed someone I liked, or respected, or thought was nice?"

"Yeah." Said Patrick softly.

"It wasn't a total lie, before you...there was one person, I thought was nice and I liked her once but, I didn't respect her." Explained David softly, in a way he was secure in his and Patrick's relationship that he could have that conversation with April and not worry. Except a small part of him was still self conscious about it. What would Patrick think about him after? Patrick gently held his hand and lightly rubbed his knuckles with his thumb.

"Why don't you tell me about her?" Asked Patrick.

"April is...was, don't know if she still is. a Makeup artist, on movie sets. That's how we met, the first time at one of my mom's movies, and I was twenty, and she was twenty-one. We were both young and I thought she was really, really cute and sweet. I was dating someone at the time though, who ended up cheating on me, but...whatever. I didn't meet her again until I was twenty-nine and she was thirty. By that point, I had changed. I'd become more bitter, more cynical, I'd dated so many people in those nine years and been so used up that any good I had inside of me was gone." He explained, and Patrick nodded in understanding. "When I saw her again, um I was single...and we dated, we lasted for three months."

"What happened?" Asked Patrick, and David sighed as he looked up at the ceiling.

"I was an asshole, she was right about that. I think at that point, I don't know I...I just got so used to being used that I think I decided to be the user for once. I saw her, and I didn't care. What's horrible is, she was so sweet. She used to come to the gallery every day and drop off lunch, she'd leave these cute little notes for me, she always made sure my clothes were pressed and everything was neat, she used to kiss me every time I was having a bad day and listen to me, she did...all the things you do but...I don't know I just...I don't know what I was thinking, but I treated her like garbage." Said David, still not looking at Patrick as his fiance looked at him. "I would come home high as fuck, I would leave to go partying or drinking at all hours of the night and leave her waiting at home, I would have parties without telling her, I would say nothing as my friends made fun of her, I wouldn't even hold her hand in public...and the shittiest thing is, I couldn't even tell you why."

Patrick tries to reconcile the David he knows, with the David his fiance is talking about. He can't imagine his David doing those things, he can't imagine the same David whose been hurt so many times, doing the same thing to someone else, he just can't imagine...but it must be true, because even April said it herself, and so is David. He sighed softly and looked at his fiance.

"She still loved me...I don't know why but she did. She was there for every bad trip, for every bad hangover, for everything I needed, she was there. One time I heard her talking to her friends, they asked her why she put up with me, why didn't she just leave. I remember she told them...'because, underneath it all...David, is a good person.' "Said David, and Patrick bit his lip looking down. Because...if he'd been in April's position, he would have...no he has said the same thing about David. To every ex, to every person who demeans and ridicules David, to every person whose talked bad about him, to every person who has ever only made rude and snide comments about David. He would say the same thing...that David was a good person.

"So what happened...why did she leave?" Asked Patrick softly.

"...I drove her away." Said David softly, remembering the night clearly.

He'd been in bed, having just finished spending the afternoon with Sebastien, going over the new prints that would be at the gallery. He'd woken up, a little hungover but not too bad. He had woken up, to the sound of someone talking. He went to go see who it was, and saw Sebastien talking to April. He was standing there, and David was disgusted at how he leered at his girlfriend, who looked uncomfortable.

"Sebastien, I think you need to leave." Had said April. Sebastien, went over and gently stroked a strand of her long dark hair.

"What David doesn't know won't hurt him."

"I will chop your dick off in five seconds if you don't get your hand out of my hair." She'd said, and David was a little surprised by that...and a little turned on but lets not go there. Sebastien chuckled, and removed his hand as he looked at her. "Get out."

"Aww, come on, you know as well as I do that David Rose doesn't love anyone but himself. That David is from another world, than you my sweet." He said softly, as he went over and gently stroked her pale cheek. David glared at Sebastien, when April grabbed a knife from the table and pointed it at the photographer who backed away from her with both his hands raised.

"I said get away, from me." She replied, and David wondered just what he'd missed because April was not the type of person to resort to violence.

"You've had to do this before haven't you? Defend yourself against someone who David has brought home, that...is just waiting to get their hands on you. I can see it in your eyes. Has anyone of them laid a hand on you? " He asked, and his face lost all color. All those nights of bringing home drunk and drugged up people, had April ever gotten hurt? Had any one of them ever done something like this? Was this a common thing, that her first instinct is to go for a knife? How had he not known? Why hadn't she told him?

"So what if I have?" She asked making David's jaw go slack. "Look just, go."

"How long do you think until something happens, and if it does happen do you think David would care? Of course he wouldn't. Though I just had a grand idea, perhaps...in order to better protect you. You and I could share David, I'm sure he wouldn't mind that." He replied, pushing her arms to the side slightly and pulling her in by the waist immediately kissing her. She squealed and he cried out as she bit his lip. "Why would you do that?"

"Oh that's not the first time that's happened either. Now get out of my apartment." She replied, and he chuckled before turning to David."She's feisty...I like them feisty."

April paused and looked back at David, as Sebastien grabbed his things and left. She sighed, and set the knife down before beginning to cry. Her shoulders shaking as she trembled. David went over, and held her in his arms to which he immediately realized...just what he'd done. He had done what everyone else around him had been doing to him. He used her, he was cruel and horrible to her, she had gone through and suffered so much, and she didn't deserve that. Gently David kissed her shoulders. He wants to tell her that things will be different, that things will change, that things will be ok but...when she looks at him...the light in those brown eyes looks so dull and less vibrant. Their relationship had taken a toll on her. He was breaking her as so many before had broken him. This relationship, it wasn't good or healthy for her, it was toxic. He loved her...and so he needed to set her free.

"April, you should go."He said softly.

"What?" She replied, with wide eyes.

"I heard...the last bit of it. April, you deserve so much better than me. You deserve someone who will love you, like you're meant to be loved. Who will protect you and treasure you, and who will...treat you the way you are meant to be treated. So go, because I want you to be happy." Said David, and April looked up at him understanding why he was doing this. She gently stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips.

"I always knew there was good in you." She said softly. "Thank you."

She sighed, and went to the room to get her things. Leaving him standing there...alone.

"You broke up with her...to protect her." Said Patrick softly, because that was the David he knew and loved. The David who would give up his relationship, if it meant the other person would be safe and happy. David nodded softly.

"I was a coward Patrick, instead of fighting for her, I just let her go. I was weak and I couldn't do it, I couldn't protect her."

"What? No, David. Hey, that wasn't cowardice or weakness, that was strength. "Said Patrick, to David's surprise. "You were not the nicest boyfriend, by far believe me. But when it came right down to it, you chose to let her go so she could be safe and she could find happiness..even if it wasn't with you. I for one, think that was very admirable."

"It doesn't make up for everything I put her through." Said David softly, and Patrick wrapped his arms around his fiance.

"It doesn't...but the fact you feel that way says you regret it. I'm sorry though that it didn't work out." Said Patrick softly, and David leaned against him.

"Me too, but from what I saw today...she's happier, and I'm glad for her. If it means anything, I'm happy now too, because I'm marrying the love of my life." Said David softly. Patrick smiled softly at him and David sighed as he hugged him.

"What do you think of me now?" He asked softly.

"I love you David, regardless of what you did in the past you're still the love of my life and I couldn't imagine a life without you in it. I'm glad I have you, and that I'm marrying you." He'd said and David smiled at him before kissing him. He felt guilty for what he did to April...but meeting Patrick, it was as though fate had given him a second chance. A chance to do better, to get things right this time..and he did...because he loved Patrick. He would never make the same mistake twice, he knew what he had..and this time he wasn't letting go and taking it for granted.


End file.
